On a November afternoon a year ago, Carbondale’s Jake Zamansky lingered near the summit of Copper Mountain at the shadowy end of a ski day and spoke from the heart about why he couldn’t bring himself to quit ski racing.

He had decided to continue even after the U.S. Ski Team dropped him for lack of performance the previous season, meaning he would have to pay his own way on the World Cup. It would cost him in excess of $50,000, which he covered by pounding the pavement to attract sponsors. He would have to pay for his own skis, tune and wax them himself, make his own travel arrangements.

He was determined to stick with it.

“Even when it’s a bad run, you’re still happier than sitting behind a desk, pushing papers or staring at a computer screen all day,” Zamansky said that day 53 weeks ago. “I’m an adrenaline junkie. I love the thrill of it, to be able to come out and push myself and tame my competitive nature. I can’t give it up yet.”

Zamansky skied himself back onto the team for this season — and into contention to make the Olympic team — based on his results last season. But he’s only partially funded, so it will cost him $30,000 or so to pursue his dream another year.

“Really, the only thing that’s different now is my name’s on a piece of paper that says U.S. Ski Team, and I get free skis,” the giant slalom specialist said last week while passing through Denver en route to Europe. “What they do, that’s their deal. I just want to ski race.”

Zamansky made his World Cup debut seven years ago but has made only 37 World Cup starts compared with 70 on the developmental Europa Cup. Two seasons ago, he raced the Nor-Am circuit and won the GS title, which was key: It gave him a guaranteed spot in last year’s World Cup GS races despite being dropped from the national team.

“I realized last year how much I do love skiing, how nice it is to be outside, getting the wind in your face, arcing a sweet GS turn on a groomer, skiing down in the powder and getting face shots,” said Zamansky, 28. “It’s a feeling that is really hard to get anywhere else. Your foot is an inch from the ground, and you could be going 60 to 90 mph.”

Zamansky inherited his passion for ski racing from his father, Dave, who moved to Aspen from upstate New York in the late 1960s at age 19. There, he trained with Aspen’s Andy Mill, who went on to become a pretty fair U.S. Ski Team downhiller.

“Jake’s dedicated, he loves the sport, and I was the same way,” Dave Zamansky said. “I still ski race in the town league. I still enjoy it.”

Last season worked out for Zamansky in the end, but there were times when he questioned his decision to pay his own way. Without an official finish in his first three races, he went to Alta Badia, Italy, just before Christmas with his confidence shot.

“The day before Alta Badia, I had decided I was going to fly home,” Zamansky said. “The race was on Sunday, I was going to fly home Monday, and that was going to be it — regardless of what happened (in the race). I was done. I was broke.”

But in that race, Zamansky finished 24th to score the first World Cup points (top 30) of his career. The next time out he was 27th in Adelboden, Switzerland. He made the U.S. world championships team, and he scored his first World Cup top-15 result after worlds.

“He traveled with the team, but he had his own car, he paid for everything, he had to take care of all of his logistics,” said Sasha Rearick, head men’s coach of the U.S. Ski Team. “To see a guy grow and be that determined was fantastic.”

This week, Zamansky is in Europe to compete in a couple of Europa Cup super-Gs. His next big test: the World Cup GS at Beaver Creek on Dec. 6. He’s currently the fourth-ranked GS skier in the U.S., so he has a good chance to make the Olympic team.

Either way, he will be doing what he loves.

“It’s so challenging, and so few people will ever feel what we feel on skis,” Zamansky said. “It makes me smile, every time I do it.”

The Post's ski and Olympics writer, Meyer covered his 12th Games last summer in Rio de Janeiro. He has covered five World Alpine Ski Championships and more than 100 World Cup ski events. He is a member of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Colorado Running Hall of Fame. He regularly covers running and the Colorado Rapids.

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